Fear of the Fox
by scarlet kitsune silhouette
Summary: Naruto has gone back in time to stop Minato from killing himself, but then seals himself inside his newborn body.  12 years later the memories and chakra inside him will be awoken.  Naruto isn't over powered, Not a time travel fic, Minato lives.
1. To Kill A God

I do not own anything, before we begin, just know it starts in the future, Naruto is 23, Sasuke was returned when he was 17…

Naruto slowly and carefully placed the seals he had been studying on the rock he was perched upon. As sweat slowly made its way down his rugged face he smiled, and with one swift movement finished the intricate seal he had placed beneath him. As he stood he pulled his bloody and torn tee-shirt from his chest and wiped his hands on his pants. Naruto looked around and saw dead bodies everywhere*.

"I swear… Sakura…. Jiraiya… Kakashi-sensei… Gama-kun… I'll fix this… It's my nindo… I will avenge you all" Stated Naruto mournfully as he turned behind him and ran his fingers through Sakura's lifeless body ever so carefully. Her corpse was showing signs of decay, her hair wilted and the pungent odor that follows death coming from her skin.

With a lone tear he stepped onto his seal as he heard a noise behind him. With not a second left to spare, Sasuke stepped out, bloody and battered, missing an arm. Before Naruto could react, Sasuke pulled out his katana and threw it to Naruto. "Don't forget me dobe…" Sasuke said before walking up to see his friend off.

"I found never Sasuke… I'm going to make Akatsuki pay… are you sure you can't come with me?" Naruto asked, wanting to bring his friend with him whether it be willingly or not.

"Naruto… I lost one of my arms, I can no longer forge chakra, and I'm blind" Sasuke stated fighting back the rage he held within himself. For the first time in his life, he felt truly helpless, "But you're not Naruto, as much as a nuisance you are, you and the fox together have prevailed through everything… You have to do this, without me."

Naruto bit back tears but nodded none the less. "Sasuke…" He looked at the sword solemnly, "I promise you, this time around, I'll make sure we both have the lives we never had, neither of us shall suffer. I'll watch over you, and I promise you I will save everyone…"

Both of the suddenly looked up and sensed a powerful enemy coming. "Naruto, you have to leave. Now!" Sasuke shouted as he turned around drawing a kunai.

Naruto started to meld chakra in his hands as he dashed through hand seals, "Good bye Sasuke…" and in a blinding light, Naruto was gone, leaving nothing behind but a scorched rock.

Sensing that Naruto had departed, Sasuke dropped his kunai and let go of the strong front he was holding, and awaited certain death. He had not long to wait, within minutes, Itachi and Pein appeared before him. "Where is the nine tails." Asked, or more stated Pein.

"He is gone, and he will destroy you all…" Sasuke laughed, "I hope I meet you all in the afterlife, but then again… I never will have existed…." Sasuke grinned, which suddenly turned into a bloody smirk as he felt Itachi pierce his right lung.

"Good work brother." Itachi whispered as he pulled his blade from Sasuke's chest, watching his younger brother fall to the dirt helpless. As Sasuke laid there, savoring the last few moments he had of life, he could only think about one thing. 'God I was such a fool….' And with the shutting of his eyelids over his lifeless, cold eyes, Sasuke Uchiha, the last bolder behind Konoha's public and certain death was no more.

In a blinding light, a twenty three year old version of Naruto appeared, he first off felt amazing, too see his home not ablaze was an invigorating sight. But he had work to do, he looked to the left of him and saw the massive form of the Kyuubi No Yoko in the distance. He sprinted off into the direction using the advanced speed that five years of war had made him develop.

As he jumped behind the scene that was unfolding, he saw his mother, Kushina, helplessly looking onward as the Kyuubi slammed it's massive foot down upon her. As he sped through hand seals he held his hand out to his mother, " Doton, Yomi Numa (Earth Release, Swamp of the Underworld)" Naruto bellowed as an enormous swamp suddenly appeared where the Kyuubi was, throwing him off balance and making him fall into the massive swamp. Naruto grinned and canceled the technique, creating rock which held the Kyuubi at bay, though he knew this wouldn't last long. As he ran past his wide eyed father, he jumped upon the Kyuubi's god like body as the rock began to break. Finally reaching his head Naruto put his hands to the Kyuubi's skull and began to pump chakra into his head, making it impossible for the Kyuubi to function. "MINATO!" Naruto screamed, already feeling his massive chakra reserves depleting, "FIND A VESEL FOR THE KYUUBI, I CANNOT HOLD HIM OFF MUCH LONGER!"

Minato stood from his battered wife and smiled to her, as she gave him a confused look. "I am sorry Kushina-chan, we both know it's the only way…" And without another word he pulled Naruto (baby version) out from his cloak and held the boy in his arms, "We both know you cannot be a host again, it would kill you… Naruto has to be the next vessel."

Making use of the pinned Kyuubi, even though most of the rock was crumbled, Minato flipped through seals, before he finally stopped and held Naruto in one lone hand. "Hakke no Fuuin Shiki (Eight Divination Signs Seal)*" Minato grunted as he slammed the seal onto Naruto before going through a secondary set, "___Shiki Fūjin_ (Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal)" Minato roared as he summoned the legendary death god, to which he used to slowly rip out Kyuubi's soul and implant it into his son.

As the Kyuubi vanished from existence, being placed inside Naruto, slowly closed his eyes, awaiting death. As a few seconds passed, he turned to see that the strange blonde adult, who looked amazingly similar to him was talking to the death god. Suddenly the god turned to Minato and looked at him **"Child, your life shall be sparred, do not summon me again, I shall not gift you with life a second time"**. Said the Death god, as it slowly dissipated from sight.

"W-Who are you…" Minato stuttered, as he looked at the mysterious blonde.

"I'm… no one…" Naruto said quietly as he placed his hand upon his younger self's head before he slowly was enveloped in a white light 'When you're old enough, you will receive my chakra and memories, do not waist this gift I have given us…." Thought the alter Naruto as he vanished completely.

Stunned, Minato picked up his son, and walked over to his wife, seeing that life was slowly fading from her eyes. "Kushina…" Minato began, unable to think of what he wanted to say.

"Don't… I have lived my life… I have no regrets… Make sure he is loved Minato-kun… Don't let him be like me… Minato… Naruto… I love… You…. Bo…" Kushina's hand fell limp on Naruto's forehead, as her eyes slowly closed for the last time.

Minato softly cried to himself, watching as his one love had passed in front of him. After a while he picked up his son and made his way back to the village while thinking, "Kushina, I promise you I will make sure our child grows up a hero, grows up loved"…

1st * - anybody tells me the reference and they get a sneak preview.

2nd* - please tell me if I spelt this wrong, or used wrong seal.

So, how was it, good, bad? No Naruto will not be super powerful, but not a wimp either. He will be as he is in the series, but just with some extra experience. So R&R…


	2. ENTER: Uzumaki Naruto! Rewrite

Here is a re-write of chapter two… more will come for this story and my others shortly… sorry for the delay.

***Chapters 2-4 re-written***

Thank you ruhiko, and Mizuki-Fire-and-Ice, for commenting and enjoying the fic!

:3 ^_^ ^~^ =3 (^_^) 11 years later…

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and scanned the area around him. He seemed to be in one of the various offices of the Hokage's tower, probably one of the higher floors. Naruto was used to waking up in funny places, but rarely had he ever woken up here.

"Ugh… I wonder what happened…" pondered Naruto out loud as he rose from the small bench he was laying on and began to wander around, in search of his father. As the pitter patter of his small feet floated down the hall, Naruto began to read signs, and various doors in search of the main office.

After a few minutes of searching Naruto finally found a massive oak door, and suddenly shouted… "HEY OLD MAN, WHAT HAPPENED, WHY AM I HERE?"

And without a chance to shout out another word, Minato, dressed in his formal Hokage robes, opened the door and smiled to his son. "Naruto hush, it's early and I don't need you making a scene."

"Huh, what time is it Ho-ka-ge-sama?" Naruto asked while drawing out the formality in mock respect. Naruto grinned and hugged his father around Minato's waist. Minato sighed but ruffled the miniature boy's hair as he recipricated the embrace.

"Oh it's 5:30, Ha-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS 5:30, DAD WHAT THE HELL, WHY I AM NOT AT HOME!" shouted Naruto, whose eyes had become the size of dinner plates.

"Naruto what have I told you about appropriate language?" Minato asked, while kneeling down so he was Naruto's height.

"Sorry dad…" Naruto replied.

Minato gave his son a warm smile and ruffled the boy's hair, "That's better, and you're here because today I am going to choose the genin teams, and I to keep an eye on you, the last thing I need is more villagers complaining about local mischief."

"OH COME ON, ONE PRANK GONE WRONG AND I CAN'T BE LEFT ALONE?" screamed Naruto as if he had just been accused of manslaughter.

"Well technically no, but since you are my child I don't see the harm in keeping you here, or am I not good enough for the great Naruto Namikaze." Minato said as he sat down at his desk before pulling out a scroll. "So Naruto," Minato started as he glanced at his son, who was currently puffing out his chest to the adult sized mirror in the room, "What did you think of the academy, your friends, Iruka, the whole experience?"

"Oh that's easy," started Naruto. "The academy was great! Sure I mean Iruka-sensei never let me lead a class discussion on the benefits of ramen instead of bento like he promised, but it was still fun! Sakura-chan is amazingly pretty and smart!" said Naruto with a small blush on his cheeks, which earned a small perverted grin from his father. "Kiba is kind of a dick, but he's cool, Shikamaru is a lazy bastard that only sleeps, but he is really, really smart. Ichigo is kind of weird, all he talks about is swords and soul something, I think he's smoking something. Umm… Oh, Shino is really weird, but he's nice, he gave me part of his lunch that day I forgot mine, remember dad? Well anyways Hinata is kinda creepy, and Sasuke is the biggest—" Naruto stated before he brought a hand to his head and groaned.

'Naruto, you have to leave. Now!'

'Good bye Sasuke…'

'Don't forget me dobe…'

Naruto started to sweat as flashes ran through his head, he was talking to this weird guy with one arm, and everything around him was on fire.

"Naruto, are you alright?" asked his crouching father, concern evident by his expression.

"Y-yea… " Naruto said as he let go of his head slowly. "Sasuke… is a good person…he's my best friend after all" finished Naruto without thinking.

"Hmm, weird I thought you hated the boy." Minato pondered aloud.

"Yea…me too" whispered Naruto to himself.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ =3 (^_^) The next day.

"Ok class, today I will be announcing you genin teams, and after which you all will go to your assigned training grounds to meet your sensei" Started Iruka. "Team one…

(I'm skipping all of this name calling, same teams as in the series)

…Ok teams 1-3 meet in training grounds 1. Teams 4-5 and 6, meet in training grounds 2. Team 7, training grounds 3, and team 8 through 10, training grounds 4 please, finally teams 11 through 15 report to training grounds 5. DISMISSED!" Bellowed Iruka as the teams got together and slowly left the room.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all met near the academy gates and walked together to their training grounds. "So.." started Sakura, "Sasuke-kun, isn't it great that we all are on the same team! The smartest me, with the strongest, you!" Sakura squealed, seeming to go into some crazed pre-teen orgasmic state which included squeals and rants about future children.

"Hn…" replied Sasuke.

Naruto had no idea why, but he had this urge to talk to Sasuke, to try and connect with him. "H-hey Sasuke…"

"What is it dobe…" Sasuke said, telling that this team would cause him nothing but a headache.

"I just, you know, wanted to know if after this, me and you go out to train, I have private training grounds behind my house, and I was gonna work on chakra control today." Naruto said, for some reason becoming nervous of the boy's answer.

Sasuke was enraged at first, for this nobody to dare even hold the thought that he, Sasuke Uchiha, should compromise his own training grounds, and take his time, to teach the dobe. But as Naruto continued, Sasuke thought it over and decided that his chakra control did need work, and alone it was nearly impossible, if nothing else sparring would be worth it. Nothing was better then a moving target. "Fine."

Naruto smiled at Sasuke and passed him a paper which had his address on it. "Go there and meet me after this."

"HEY NARUTO, YOU BETTER NOT BE TALKING TO MY SASUKE! HES NUMBER ONE AND YOUR NOTHING, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!" Bellowed Sakura.

"S-sorry Sak—"

"Shut it Sakura, your annoying, you may be smart, but as a ninja your pathetic, become more like myself and Naruto before opening your ugly mouth again." Said Sasuke without a hitch.

"SASUKE-TEME YOU CAN'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT" screamed Naruto, infuriated.

"Hn…" was all Sasuke had to say.

After Naruto had finished fuming, and Sakura sulking, the trio finally reached their training grounds. "Oh hello there children, I will be your sensei."

Sasuke looked wide eyed, to see not only one of the strongest ninja in the village, Kakashi Hatake, but behind him the Hokage.

"Y-your…" started Sakura.

"Hey dad, Kakashi, did you guys bring lunch?" asked Naruto as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ =3 (^_^)

***This chapter re-written wasn't to different from the original but some grammer flaws and stories flaws I felt needed to be corrected were fixed. Following chapters may not be essentially as close to the originals as this one.***

So there you go, how was it, good, bad? I don't know if I want Naruto to have a romantic interest or not, maybe later, much later in the story. He is only eleven anyways…

The main characters in this are most likely going to be Naruto, Minato, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Sasuke, and maybe Sakura if I find a way to not make her pathetically weak…

Anyways, R&R, peace.


	3. The Test Rewrite

Here is chapter 3 re-written, it will be fairly different then I had originally intended. This version is not only more believable, it is better equipped for what I want this story to be, so here is the re-vamped chatper 3

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sakura looked at Naruto in horror "KAKASHI?".

Sasuke gave Naruto a suspicious gaze, "Dad…"

Naruto looked at his teammates and grinned, "That's right, and I'm Naruto!"

Sasuke and Sakura lost their balance due to his stupidity, while Kakashi was reading his book, not even paying attention to the scene unfolding before him. Minato put his hands on his hips and sighed, unable to even contemplate whether or not he had been this thick as a child. "Naruto, did you by any chance tell them before hand who you were related to?"

"Ummm, no why do you ask?" Naruto had asked obviously missing Minato's underlying meaning.

"He means why the hell are you considered an orphan brat if your father is the Hokage" Sasuke said, finally pulling himself to his senses, before putting on his ever present bored expression.

"Oh, I don't know really it never came up, and whatever, it doesn't really matter to me." Replied Naruto while putting his hands behind his head.

"Anyways, if we could move on…" Kakashi said while snapping his book shut. "Most other teams are being put up against their Jounin sensei, you will all be tested somewhat differently." Kakashi shot Minato a glance as if signaling him to continue. With a heavy sigh Kakashi looked to the genin, "Your exam is a bit different …. The test is a 3 on 1 match against me, the Hokage being the proctor." Kakashi said as he rose to his feet standing before the genin.

"T-that's suicide!" screamed Sakura, fear evident on her face.

"Actually Haruno-san it will be ok, as long as the three of you work together." Said Minato is a sage-like fashion.

Kakashi nodded, "He is right, if the three of you are able to put your differences aside and come at me, you will be victorious, if not, you will inevitably fail, the goal is to knock me off my feet."

"That'll be easy!" Shouted Naruto, only to get a subtle smirk from Sasuke and an incredulous look from Sakura.

"Oh, and by the way, you start now." Said Kakashi, and suddenly the genin were gone.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Minato was happy, he truly was, it was a wonderful day, he felt a subtle breeze run through his hair, as well as the tickle of the newly sprouting grass in between his fingers as he was sitting on the ground, using his hands to hold him up. In front of him Naruto and Sasuke were attacking Kakashi in a sloppy form, where one would rush in for a few attacks, as the other would fall back to rest. Sakura was a good 50 yards away giving support through shuriken and kunai.

Naruto ran up as Sasuke fell back, he lunged at Kakashi, swiping at his feet with a kunai, before shifting his weight to his right leg and propelling himself up at Kakashi. Kakashi successfully jumped over Naruto's swipe for his legs, and caught the boy in mid air by his shoulder's. Kakashi then turned his waist and threw Naruto head first into Sasuke, before catching an incoming shuriken that Sakura had sent his way.

Naruto was infuriated, and his head was pounding. Everything was beginning to spin and Naruto started to feel queasy. Then suddenly Naruto launched himself at Kakashi while adding chakra to his feet. Catching Kakashi off guard, Naruto sent a kick to Kakashi's jaw, knocking the man slightly into the air, before back flipping and running through hand seals.

Naruto took in a deep breath and screamed "Futon, Renkudan (Wind Release, Drilling Air Bullet)!" and from Naruto's lips, a huge gust of air spinning in a spiral was projected at Kakashi's chest, sending the man crashing down next to Minato.

Everyone in the area was staring at Naruto with wide eyes, all thinking 'we're the hell did that come from?'

Naruto was absolutely terrified, he had no idea where the jutsu came from, but all he knew was that something compelled him to use those hand seals, to call out that attack. All he knew was that is felt natural, like he had run through that jutsu a thousand times in his sleep.

"Well… " Minato started glancing at the slightly dazed Kakashi, "I can say you three pass…" Minato gulped, as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "Now that…"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" screamed a frantic Sakura, who was looking at Naruto as if he was a demon.

Time had froze for Naruto, he was aware of the suspicious looks of his teammates, and the confused ones of his teacher and father, but he wasn't able to move.

'What… what is happening to me… why is my stomach and head burning…'

Minutes have passed before finally Naruto said in a voice barely higher then a whisper, "Dad we need to talk…"

Minato gave Naruto a peculiar look before sighing softly, "Naruto it will have to wait until later." Naruto looked at his stomach which he had been clutching softly along with his head and nodded before sitting down.

"As for your question Sakura." Minato began, "We have many training scrolls at our house, it seems as if Naruto has been doing some secretive training."

"Eh hehe.. yea…" Naruto mumbled.

Minato, deciding that his son had taken cleared his name for now, and he would come to his rescue, "Well Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, congratulations, your team passes your genin exam."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto and Sasuke were both sitting under a small tree behind Naruto's home meditating. Sakura had gone home, and Kakashi had just seemed to vanish. Minato had treated the boys to a short lunch in which he had given them tips on how to train their chakra control effectively.

"Sasuke." Naruto mumbled.

"Hn.. Yes Naruto?" Sasuke replied, seemingly relaxed. As surprising as it was to him, the dobe was good company to keep.

"Have you ever felt as if there were two different… people inside your head?" Naruto asked while biting his lip.

"…I…don't know what you mean by that." Sasuke replied as he looked at the blonde skeptically.

"Oh… sorry just a random question." Naruto said through a fake smile. He reclosed his eyes and began to mold his chakra when suddenly he felt an intense wind urge past him. His eyes snapped open and he was standing by a cliff with a man in his early twenties. The man had dark hair and red eyes, and was smiling at him.

Naruto tried to reach out or speak, but he was stuck in place. Finally he felt himself start laughing as had the man in front of him. When he closed his eyes he felt the breeze disperse. Naruto re-opened his eyes to see Sasuke in front of him once more meditating. "Just a random question…"

As always R&R!

***If anyone wants to read the original version opposed to this, send me a message and I would be happy to send you the original story, I would like to see if these changes seem better then the original.***


	4. Confrontation With The Fox

Okay, so I am much happier with the re-writes and the responses they have received. I'm very happy you all like it and also thanks TS001 for the, it was highly appreciated! Anyways, here is chapter 4!

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto and Minato were sitting at their table eating a quiet dinner, consisting of mainly ramen and a high end herbal tea Minato had traded from tea country. Both were silently picking at their meal with a heavy tension in the air, each breathe felt like smoke filling their lungs.

"Naruto… what was that today?" Minato asked as he slowly glanced up at his son.

Naruto looked to the side hastily, somehow unable to even look in the direction of his father. "I-I don't know dad… it… it just happened." said Naruto while his hand silently crept to his stomach.

"Naruto… I think we may have to see the fox." Minato said with conviction, although he was silently afraid of what he had said. Minato had remembered the last time he and his son had visited the Kyuubi, he had vowed never to go back there.

-Flashback—

A fairly young Naruto and Minato had both wandered down a labyrinth of sewers to a large cage. The cage had to be at least twice the size of Gamabunta itself, and stretched so far that darkness enveloped what had been sealed inside. Two monstrous eyes slowly opened and stared the two mortals down menacingly. "**What do you want Yondaime-baka**." growled the Kyuubi.

Minato who had already begun to travel up the bars and onto the seal had chuckled softly. "Well you see, you have been causing my son quite a lot of trouble, I am here to prevent this from occurring." Minato put simply as he flipped through hand seals.

"**Oh foolish Yondaime-baka, to think that I am the cause of your son's incompetence. How funny it would be to tell you he had done it to himself**." Kyuubi mused, each word spoken causing ripples which threatened to knock Naruto off his feet. "**But no matter, eventually I will be freed from this hell, and then I shall rip you limb from mangled limb, hopefully using your son's body.**" Kyuubi finished as he raised his paw slowly.

Minato had been gritting his teeth, he hadn't wanted to bring Naruto into this but he was unable to access the Kyuubi without him. "As heart-warming as this is, I think its time for you to quiet yourself and lay down like a good mutt." Minato taunted as he flipped off the seal, barely escaping the paw that had been pushed to the seal in hopes to crush Minato. Kyuubi had been yelling at Minato and Naruto but nothing was heard as the Kyuubi had been cut off from Naruto's psyche.

-End Flashback—

Naruto had appeared physically shaken and so had Minato to an extent. Both blondes were sitting cross legged back to back with their eyes shut as Minato had just finished drawing seals on his son's body, as well as the ground around them. Naruto began to mold his chakra, and with a sudden gust of wind pushing past them, both arose to be standing in a sewer. Naruto despite being older then the last time he arrived here had clutched his father's had, hoping he could somehow turn back now.

Minato nodded to Naruto and smiled softly to him before pulling him along down the labyrinth. "It will be ok Naruto." Minato said warmly as he squeezed his son's hand affectionately. Naruto nodded and both trudged on up to the giant doors which held the great Kyuubi behind it. Minato sighed and pressed his hand to the seal before pumping chakra through it. The mental barrier he had built between Naruto and the Kyuubi had temporarily went down.

"**Yondaime-baka, I'M GOING TO TEAR YOUR INSIGNIFICANT MINISCULE BODY TO SHREDS, HOW DARE YOU SILENCE M—**" Kyuubi had started before Minato had put the mental barrier back up.

"Kyuubi, we are here to ask a few questions, and maybe if you cooperate I can make this prison more bearable for you." Minato stated before pulling the seal back down. Kyuubi had shifted in its cage before narrowing his massive eyes at the pair.

"**I'm listening,**" mumbled the Kyuubi. Naruto had looked up at the massive fox while trying to hide his trembles.

"S-Something has been happening to me, I-I'm using jutsu I've never seen before and for some reason, I'm having these weird day dreams." Naruto said to the Kyuubi wishing he was back in his room.

Kyuubi had laid there for a minute debating on whether or not to clue them in on the incident that happen upon his initial sealing. After what had seemed like an eternity the Kyuubi spoke. "**I… have an idea what is going on, but as for cluing you two in, Well it won't be happening**."

"What do you mean you won't be "Cluing" us in." replied Minato angrily.

"**There are consequences for all of our actions, some not for seeable. As the brat continues to grow he will experience more of these unnatural m… daydreams and jutsu.**" Kyuubi finished, deciding it was for his own good if the alternate Naruto never encountered the current one standing before him.

Minato looked as if he was going to snap soon, his teeth gritted and knuckled clenched into tight fists. Before he could shout out to the Kyuubi, Naruto cut in himself. "Good, I don't need you anyways! You're just a burden on me!" Naruto shouted with conviction as he canceled his and Minato's connection with the fox. Naruto looked up at his father and sighed, "Dad I don't care what happens, I don't need him."

Minato had smiled to his son and nodded, "Whatever is happening Naruto, I'm here for you."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

R&R


	5. Tazuna The Great

I'm back, sorry for the delay again.

There is one thing I wanted to address that has came to me in a few pm's as well as a review or two… Naruto has no idea as to what is going on, and he has no ideas what these memories are, also he does not know the jutsu he has been performing, they were leaked out from his subconscious. It may not make complete sense now, but with the next encounter with the Kyuubi, within the next chapter or two, it will all tie together.

Also the little clip at the end of chapter three was not Itachi, it was a future Sasuke.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto and Sakura were talking amongst themselves as Sasuke leaned against the railing to where team 7 met every day. Their normal routine had consisted of meeting at the bridge around nine, talking and catching up until 10, at which point Sasuke and Naruto would fight about something stupid, usually of Sakura, and beat one another into a pulp until noon when Kakashi decided to show up.

This morning was a bit different though, the battles between Naruto and Sasuke had come to an end and all of the genin were sitting among the rails of the bridge, no Kakashi to be found. "Where do you think he is?" asked Sakura as she skipped a rock across the river.

"Beats me.." replied a sleepy Sasuke who had started to doze off.

"Maybe we had the day off…" mumbled a very bored, and even more angry Naruto, he could have gone with his dad to work today, or been training with Sasuke doing chakra exercises. Naruto suddenly looked at Sasuke, it has been nearly a month since team 7 had been created and the two boys had spent a lot of time together. One day Sasuke had even come over to see if Naruto had wanted to go to the market place with him, Sasuke had said he needed help carrying supplies home for training, but Naruto was sure he wanted to hang out.

Naruto sighed contently to himself as a slight breeze past over him, or at least he was content until a rock had hit him in-between the eyes. He glanced over to see Sakura snickering at him and he got up angrily. "That's enough, I'm not sitting here any longer, this is bullshit." Naruto shouted before storming off to the Hokage tower, quickly followed by Sakura and Sasuke.

It wasn't long before Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all were at the doors to the Hokage's office. Naruto raised his hands to the door and gave a mighty pushed which slammed both doors to the walls dramatically. "Dad, Kakashi is skipping out on us, I want a mission or a sensei who gives a shit!" yelled Naruto in a huff before looking around to see Minato, Kakashi, and an old man who smelled distinctly of sake. "Uhhh Kakashi-sensei… hehe I mean…"

"No Naruto it is quite alright, I'm sorry for not gathering you three earlier, but we have a mission, something over a d-rank." said Kakashi while reading his book without a care to the outburst.

"So these," the man began before burping, "are the little brats who are gonna escort me, one looks like he's gonna keel over, one looks like she's more afraid of breaking a nail, and the scrawny one is probably gonna steal my wallet or something."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" screamed Naruto before pouncing at the man only to be caught by Kakashi in mid-air who secretly wanted to let Naruto jump the old geezer.

"He's got spunk I'll give the little miscreant that." Slurred the old man, "Named Tazuna, your gonna be protecting me from now on."

Minato who had been silently observing the encounter had had enough of the bickering and stood up swiftly. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, do you accept the mission of bringing Tazuna home to the land of waves? The mission is estimated at a week of travel and c-rank pay."

All three genin looked to one another and grinned before simultaneously nodding. "It's settled then, everyone meet at the gates of Konoha in one hour." barked Kakashi before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were all standing in front of a very annoyed Tazuna, Kakashi himself hadn't had a care in the world as he flipped through his perverted novel. "Some shinobi." the slightly intoxicated man said. He stumbled up to the group and pointed to the gate, "Let's go already." Tazuna barked.

"Dirty old man." Naruto mumbled under his breath as Sasuke smirked and Sakura giggled. Kakashi was just glad Naruto had kept it to himself and not shared his view on Tazuna with the aforementioned client. As the five of them trotted along, Naruto looked over and saw a puddle. Naruto groaned as he held his head in agony.

Two men had jumped out and ran at Kakashi with a chain connected to their gauntlets. Both had surrounded the Jounin in an instant and sliced the man to pieces.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. "Ka-Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto began as he looked to the puddle.

Kakashi gave Naruto his infamous eye smile and nodded, "Good catch Naruto, I saw them too."

The puddle had begun to ripple and Naruto panicked. He attacked.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Ok so I'm really sorry for the delayed updates, I got really busy with my girlfriend and college and working full time and ugh, next update is soon!


	6. Demons Amongst Us

Naruto launched himself at the puddle while drawing two kunai from his leg pouch. He threw the two projectiles at the water, only to have two brutish looking men evade the kunai and rush towards him. Before either could land a blow upon the young Namikaze, Kakashi had intervened, grabbing the two men and smashing their heads together, promptly knocking them out.

The two men dissolved into water as the real demon brothers caught Kakashi with their chains, pulling until the shinobi was torn into several pieces earning a horrified scream from Sakura. Naruto, though shaken fell into step with Sasuke, as both started preparing jutsu to ward off the shinobi. Sasuke jumped towards one of the brothers, firing off his family's prized fireball jutsu at a point blank range, incinerating the man.

Naruto's eyes began to glow an unusual bright blue as he began to summon chakra into his hand. He struggled to condense the mass of chakra before yelling out "RASENGAN" as he launched the swirling ball of chakra into the other man's chest, promptly tearing him apart.

Naruto's eyes began to dim as he clutched his head, turning so no one could see him struggling for breath. Just the Kakashi jumped down from a tree he was hiding in while clapping his hands, "That was quite impressive, I wasn't sure but I'm glad to see you both can handle yourselves when in the presence of such strong opponents". Kakashi remarked before turning to Tazuna, "Would you happen to have any idea as to why we were attacked?"

Tazuna grit his teeth as sighed before admitting, "The ninja were hired by Gato, an evil man bent on turning my home into another one of his territories, I am the only hope of my people being able to escape his hold on us."

Kakashi sighed, he already had a good idea of what was going on, Minato and himself had discussed it earlier that day.

FLASHBACK

"So Kakashi, what do you think of the mission." asked Minato with a smile upon his lips.

Kakashi had put his book down and sighed. His lone eye was focused and concentrated on the mission report in front of him. "I think the land of waves is under pressure from Gato, if our Intel is anything to go off of, I believe he has a hold upon the land of waves, making them desperate for any means of help".

Minato leaned back and put his hands behind his head as he sighed, he was thinking something similar. Minato closed his eyes as he thought of all the developing problems with his son, and him not being able to do anything about it. 'Maybe its for the best if he could take some time away from Konoha…' Minato mused to himself. After a minute his eyes snapped open, resolving his decision.

"Kakashi, I'm sending your team with Tazuna, the mission will be labeled as a C rank and put under the record as an escort, though I want you to take your team with you to wave, protect Tazuna and eliminate Gato from the equation. Also I believe you could take this opportunity to take your students to other locations, train them in ways which may not be as practical as they would be here." Minato said smiling warmly at his student, one of his lifelong friends.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, that was Minato for you. 'No matter what happens he remains pure inside' thought the copy cat ninja as he bowed to the blonde Hokage, "Yes Hokage-sama".

END FLASHBACK

Kakashi pulled out his book and began to continue on the path, signaling for the four behind him to follow. "Tazuna-san, the Hokage and myself were well aware of the situation you and your fellow townsman are in. While we have no qualms with helping those in need, next time explain the situation in full, if we had not been as informed as we were, innocent people could have been killed".

Tazuna was in awe of the ninja before him. "T-thank you…" muttered the old man, as he padded along with the shinobi before him.

Sakura, and Sasuke were both surprised at the turn in events, neither expecting their first mission over a D rank to be so exciting. Sasuke had a rare smile on his face, excited to test his abilities upon opponents in real life combat, Sakura happy that their sensei was able to protect them from what lied ahead.

Naruto, while taking up the rear, was suffocating from his inner turmoil, 'How the hell was I able to form rasengan… I've never been able to even come close to mastering the third step before, let alone be able to use it for offense. Something is wrong here'.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

The group was marching along the path, coming close to where they would be crossing into the land of waves. The air was chilly and everyone's hairs were standing on end. A wave a nausea was attacking Sakura and Tazuna as a rustling was heard from the bushes. Naruto panicked and threw a kunai only for a frightened bunny to hop out from the bush.

"NARUTO! STOP FREAKING OUT!" yelled Sakura as she ran and scooped up the bunny, cradling it in her arms. Kakashi eyed the bunny wearily as he glanced about, becoming suspicious by the second.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" yelled Kakashi as he grabbed Tazuna by the collar, forcing him to the dirt as the genin did the same. Just as they lowered themselves a huge sword made its way though the woods before imbedding itself into a tree. A man appeared upon it moments later.

"Very good Kakashi, also known as the Copy Cat Ninja." said the man as he turned to face the group. Bandages covered his face as he stared the group down, eyeballing Tazuna in particular.

"Momochi Zabuza, the demon of the mist, what are you doing here" pondered Kakashi aloud as he began to raise his Hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan.

Zabuza stared down the silver haired man as he began to laugh, "I feel honored to see your Sharingan so early."

"I wouldn't, its going to be the last thing you ever see" stated Kakashi as he jumped at Zabuza, raikiri sparking to life and aimed at the bandaged man. Zabuza was to fast though, and leaped over Kakashi, only to bring his foot down and kick Kakashi at the neck, making the silver haired man stumble.

Kakashi cursed as he spun and threw a kunai at Zabuza, only for the man to disperse into water, while a thick mist rolled in. Heavy laughter was heard as the three genin crowded around Tazuna, protecting him from the fiend as Zabuza rushed to the genin. As he raised a kunai to attack Sakura, Kakashi appeared before the man, kicking him into the water several feet away from the trio defending the client. "You three are doing great, I won't let this man hurt any of you."

Kakashi dashed to the water, raikiri once again active as he plunged it into the rising form of Zabuza, only for the man to once again melt before the might of the Copy Cat ninja. The next thing Kakashi knew water was forming a dome around him as Zabuza rose from the water, a smirk evident on his face.

"Run, take Tazuna with you, he can't leave this spot without releasing me and mizu-bushin can only travel so far from the user." shouted Kakashi as the genin looked amongst each other.

Sasuke grabbed Tazuna's hand to flee as Sakura stepped forward, "NO KAKASHI SENSEI! WE COULD NEVER LEAVE YOU WITH HIM!".

"THAT'S RIGHT, THIS BOZO IS NOTHING COMAPIRED TO ALL OF US!" declared Naruto, his hands pulling his Hitai-ate tighter around his forehead as Sasuke sighed, before falling into step with his comrades.

"Whatever."

Naruto began the assault, creating his beloved shadow clone jutsu, as Sakura started to hurl shuriken at Zabuza. Zabuza created a bushin to deflect the shuriken and meet the genin in combat.

Sasuke and the 12 Narutos lunged at the bushin, only to be knocked back or dispelled. Sasuke sat up and grinned as Naruto did the same.

"What's so funny brats, realized this is pointless", mocked the bushin.

"No…" Sasuke said smiling.

"This." finished Naruto as an exploding tag planted by a clone blew up, destroying the clone and knocking Zabuza back from the force. Kakashi took the window of opportunity and began to form hand signs. As Zabuza rose to his feet he was met with a water dragon hurdling into him and slamming his body against a tree. Before Kakashi could close in for the kill, four senbon pierced Zabuza's next, killing him as a hunter nin jumped down before pulling the corpse onto his shoulders.

"I thank you for weakening him, I have been tracking Momochi for weeks." stated the hunter. Before anyone could process what had happened both where gone in a swirl of leaves.

"I guess-" started Kakashi as he fell face first into the dirt, promptly passed out from overuse of the Sharingan.

Naruto and Sasuke looked amongst themselves before turning to Tazuna, "How far are we from your home again?"

End Chapter 6


	7. The Team Who Walked On Water

AN- Some things may be going in and out of order, or may even be modified as I see fit, just Minato being in the present is bound to change how some things may have played out, just keep that in mind.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sakura sighed as she went through out the boring task assigned to her by Kakashi. The pinkette was currently following Tazuna as he went about the scarce market the land of waves offered. Vegetables began to show signs of rot and mold growing, flies and dark spots began to plague the meat. The only thing which was in stock and looked edible was the jugs of water. Sakura began to wander about as a hand came up and squeezed her from behind.

Sakura spun on her heels ready to give whoever dared grope her the lashing of their life only to find a small boy before her.

"E-Excuse me miss, would you happen to have anything to eat?" mumbled the child, looking ashamed at the begging. Sakura nodded dumbly before handing him some money she had in her supply pouch.

"That's what things have come to I'm afraid" stated a dejected Tazuna. "People no longer have the means to live, let alone support a family, crime and child abandonment have climbed to a new high since Gato came in the picture." They both looked around, mothers were feeding starving children, men were begging, there was even a corpse showing signs of decay.

"Tazuna-san, I swear my team and I will do everything in our power to help you." stated Sakura with clenched fists, determination in her voice.

Tazuna chuckled as he watched her stalk off, "I believe you child, I truly do."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Kakashi stood at the base of a tree as he looked out to his students, he was using crutches to support his weak frame as he began to clear his voice, "Zabuza is alive".

"What?" shouted the three genin as they all stared at Kakashi, eyes wide at the news.

"I thought upon the hunter nin which picked up Zabuza and took him away. Hunter nin are trained to destroy the body of a nin on the spot, as to not leak secrets of the village behind. The fact that the nin moved the body at all proves something isn't right. Also while Zabuza was weakened, there is no way a shinobi of his caliber would be so easily taken down by four senbon. No I believe Zabuza is still among us." Kakashi finished, taking a minute to let his students take in the revelation.

After a minute the initial shock died down, and Naruto rose to his feet, "Well what are we gonna do then Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi gave his famous eye smile as he jerked his head towards the trees, "You're going to learn how to climb trees, without your hands."

"That's impossible." Sakura stated, becoming bored with the antics of her squad.

"Oh nay nay!" shouted Kakashi gleefully as he summoned chakra to his feet before putting a shaky foot to the trunk before him. He slowly began to ascend the tree as if he was walking down the road before he turned to smile at his genin.

Naruto blinked as he watched his sensei not very amused. He picked himself off the ground as he ran up the tree and situated himself besides Kakashi, "You taught me this when I was 8, remember?"

Kakashi chuckled as he dropped to the ground, landing expertly crutches and all, "Must have slipped my mind… but since you're an expert Naruto you can help your teammates." said Kakashi as he disappeared in a plume of smoke.

"Lazy ass," said Naruto with a sigh before turning to his teammates, "The trick to it is chakra manipulation, summon chakra to your feet before you run, too much and you could push yourself off the tree, too little and your going to slip."

"Like this?" questioned Sakura as she walked up the tree as if she had been doing it her whole life.

Naruto's jaw dropped as had Sasuke's. both watched her as she walked down besides them, grinning like a banshee.

Sasuke turned to the pair agitated, "I am Sasuke Uchiha, of the most noble and powerful clan ever to emerge from the ninja world, I can climb fucking trees."

Naruto laughed as Sakura blushed looking down at her feet. "Okay then," started Naruto, "Since we can all do this, lets move on to what I'm currently trying to master." The pair looked at him confused until he jerked his head towards the shore, eliciting a puzzled look from Sakura, and a grin from Sasuke.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Hours later the three genin stumbled into the house, Naruto and Sakura were using each other for support grinning, Sasuke just followed grumbling, being the most wet of the three. "That was bullshit."

"Aww what's the matter Sasuke, we all managed to do it… some before others…" teased Naruto as he and Sakura chuckled at the retreating form of the Uchiha.

"So you all took the training a step further I see." said Kakashi as he stumbled into the room before sitting at the table.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei it was great! We all were able to climb trees so Naruto showed us how to walk on water!" squealed Sakura before hugging Naruto. "Good night Kakashi-sensei, Naruto".

Naruto smiled as he watched Sakura leave, before turning to Kakashi, who began to walk to the door. Naruto followed wordlessly as he shut the door behind him falling into step with the older man. After a minute of walking Kakashi sighed and turned to Naruto, "What's wrong."

"I don't know what you mean Kakashi-sen-"

"Don't give me that shit Naruto, right now I'm not your sensei, I'm your friend, the man who has helped raise you since day one, and I think I can tell when something is off. Actually I can even tell you it started during our spar with Sasuke and Sakura, now what's wrong." demanded the older man with worry in his eyes.

Naruto sighed as he fiddled with his Hitai-ate before meeting Kakashi's eyes, "I don't know… It's like I'm having flashbacks, but its of stuff I have never done, and I end up doing things I couldn't do before, like the rasengan."

Kakashi looked at Naruto not detecting any deceit. "Okay then Naru, once we get back to Konoha, your dad and I will find out a way to stop this." said Kakashi using the nickname he knew would irritate the boy.

"I'm not a fucking baby!" bellowed Naruto as he ran back to the house annoyed at the silver haired pervert.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

A few more days passed like this, Kakashi setting the parameters of the training, before leaving Naruto to pick up where he would leave. Naruto of course knew the training, yet being unable to master it himself, worked side by side along Sakura and Sasuke to adapt and understand his faults.

The last Uchiha grunted as he fell besides a panting Sakura, while Naruto stood before the two, "Oh come on guys, we've been training for 4 hours, we still have half the day at least!" exclaimed the Namikaze.

"Not…not everyone has your fucking stamina Naruto," spat Sasuke, "How the hell do you have this much energy."

"Well you see…." started Naruto before stopping cryptically.

A few seconds passed before the pair on the ground lost their patience, "We see…." groaned Sakura just wanting a straight answer.

"…..I have no idea!" Screamed Naruto as he began to practice his rasengan, while sitting before the two, "I just know that we have to get stronger… I doubt we will get that lucky with Zabuza again."

An air of despair fell upon the trio. The three had not really spoken of the encounter in the woods since they settled into the land of waves, yet they all knew the time to fight was quickly approaching.

"Well then… we better get to training, I got an idea." Smirked Sasuke.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Birds were singing and the sun was shining. Small creatures were roaming about, all under the waiting eyes of Haku. The dark haired boy sighed as he began to fiddle with his senbon becoming bored. He sighed once more as he ducked under a sword, before barreling to his side and ramming his senbon into the wielder, effectively neutralizing him.

Another man began to run at the boy when clapping was heard stopping the pair. "Now now, no reason to harm the boy, clearly he is still competent." Praised Gato as he walked through the door leading into the hut Haku was guarding. The pair glared at each other as they entered behind the short man.

Gato growled at Zabuza as the Demon of the Mist just rolled his eyes, "You need something?"

Gato's eyes narrowed, "Yes, I do actually, I need the fucking bridge builder killed like I paid you for!" bellowed the man, "BUT YOU SEEM UNABLE TO DO SO!"

"Fear not shorty…" said another man, joining the room. The man carried a presence of death about him as he sat next to Zabuza on the make-shift couch. "Zabu here was held up by a very powerful ninja, but fear not, I will go and personally eliminate your problems, and crush everything in my path."

Gato nodded satisfied, "See that you do." he muttered before heading out the door.

Haku glanced at Zabuza before turning to the man, "Are you really going to accompany us to the next fight?"

The man laughed as he stood ruffling the boys hair. "Yea, so pack up, tomorrow we leave." He smiled to Zabuza and Haku as he exited the hut. The man began to walk thinking of what would happen tomorrow, before deciding it wasn't worth the worry. Yes, there was no way anyone would stand before the three.

The man decided after a while it was time to retire for the night, yes, for in the morning he would stand victorious over the Copy Cat Ninja.

No one survived the Tailless Tailed Beast, Hoshigaki Kisame.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Next chapter is going to finish up land of waves arc and a bit more before the chunin exams, chapters are going to be getting longer too. R&R


	8. The Shark Strikes

AN - I have no idea when I will be able to do updates and whatnot, I know for a fact it will never be more then a month between chapters, but I can't give an honest schedule, I hope to get a chapter out once a week, but realistically its not gonna happen like that.

On a side note, chapters starting now will be longer, 3K word minimum opposed to my usual 1-1.5K, so basically chapters will be at the least double the length. It was something that has been said in reviews for any story I have ever had so I might as well put a bit of effort into it.

Lastly, I will be introducing the Kyuubi to Sakura and Sasuke shortly, though it will be nothing like what it was originally. In the words of Dr. Tran….. Sorry Readers…. That Was Fucked Up. This time I plan on doing it in a way were it won't be just thrown out there and it will be believable.

On a last note following the last note, GIVE ME FEEDBACK! I love the reviews I receive, but tell me what works for you and what doesn't. I enjoy writing, but I enjoy entertaining people just as much, so if I do something that works or doesn't. go ahead and tell me. Edits have been done to this story based on some reviews, and I think only good had come of it.

ANYWAYS…

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

"This…. Fucking…. Blows." said Naruto, earning a nod from Kakashi and Sasuke. The three shinobi were currently helping the team of construction workers, while Sakura sat near Tazuna, eating a piece of fruit happily. Naruto glanced over at the pair, only to have his stomach growl. "Hey OLD MAN!"

Tazuna sighed for what must have been the tenth time today. "Yes Naruto, what do you want now."

"How much longer till we can have a lunch break?" asked the blonde boy, with hope in his eyes and dust in his belly.

Tazuna looked at the progress, and he was impressed. In a few hours, the shinobi were able to triple his production rate, "If we can add a block of concrete, we will only have a day of work left, so finish the block and pack it in!" shouted the older man electing cheers from the workers before him,

"A BLOCK?" screamed Naruto, before he was pacified by the silver haired jounin.

"Hey Naruto, I bet if you could muster up a clone or two, we could be done faster." said Kakashi with a wink.

Naruto shot him a grin and nodded, "You bet, shadow clone jutsu!" said the youth as hundreds of clones were brought to the bridge, earning shocked screams from the workers and gasps from his teammates. The clones began to work, performing at rates which had astounded the old bridge builder.

"A-at this rate… He'll be done in an hour… maybe two…" Tazuna muttered as he cleaned his glasses with his shirt before shaking his head in disbelief, 'you Konoha nin are really something after all…'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Later on that afternoon, the town was celebrating, people were dancing in the streets, children were playing happily, and fireworks were going off, the bridge was completed. The Konoha shinobi were seated with Tazuna and his family, being praised and showered with complements, no one suspected a thing.

Three cloaked figures walked through the crowds of people before approaching the Konoha nin, the smallest removed his hood and approached Kakashi.

"E-excuse me…. Shinobi-san…" stuttered Haku, mentally cheering himself on.

Kakashi glanced at the boy and smirked under his mask, "Yes Hunter Nin-san?" replied Kakashi earning gasps from his students, and Haku himself.

"Okay… well then Kakashi-san, I have an offer for you." started the black hair boy before tucking his hair behind his ears. "Originally, my partners and myself planned on secluding you, and then killing off your genin before finishing you, but that is no longer an option. So here's the deal, you and your genin follow me to a point of my choosing, and we fight, winner decides the fate of the wave."

"You're crazy!" screamed Naruto, before Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder silencing him.

"And if we refuse?" asked the silver haired man.

"We start killing civilians." said the boy calmly. Kakashi sighed, he was stuck and he knew it. He looked around, guessing around three thousand villagers, only fifty or so would be able to flee or fend off the black haired boy alone, not to mention Zabuza.

"Fine, where." groaned Kakashi, knowing he was walking into a losing battle, the enemy had the terrain already pre-determined, he had no idea what to expect.

Haku pulled a map from his sleeve and pointed out a clearing maybe 3 miles from the village, "Here, you have two hours." And with that, he was gone, leaving the shinobi to ponder what to do.

Kakashi rubbed his visible eye and sighed, "Naruto, summon a frog, I want you to relay what just happened to your father, tell him we need reinforcements, and now." Naruto nodded and ran off to do the summon in private. He turned to Sasuke and Sakura, "You both go to Tazuna and politely inform him we have to leave, say another mission came up and we must depart immediately, then go get our equipment from his home."

"What will you do sensei?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi bit his thumb before muttering a jutsu, calling a small ninja dog underneath the table, "I'm gonna track our opponents and hopefully figure out what we are up against."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Two hours had passed and the Konoha nin entered the clearing, seeing three cloaked figures before them. "I'm surprised you didn't flee." taunted Zabuza, earning a growl from Naruto.

"Unlike you traitors, he Konoha nin have honor." spat the blonde boy, earning a chuckle from Zabuza.

"Well then, I for one would like to get this over with, Haku, take the small ones." said the third figure before he leaned against a tree. Haku nodded and vanished from the view of the genin, before appearing behind Sasuke, senbon drawn.

Kakashi went to knock the boy away from his student, but found Zabuza's sword in his path, "Your fight is with me Kakashi." said Zabuza, before knocking the older man away, into the underbrush before pursuing him.

Sasuke turned and punched at the boy only to swing at air. He turned and cursed as the black haired boy kicked him in the gut.

"Sasuke!" screamed Sakura as Naruto lunged at the boy, only to miss as had his comrade. Sasuke groaned and pulled out his kunai, as had Naruto and Sakura. The three genin jumped towards each other before making a triangle formation.

"Smart," whispered Haku from behind the three. Haku spun knocking the three away from each other as he launched a hand of senbon at Sasuke, successfully pinning him to the dirt. He then rushed to the blonde hair boy, punching him in the stomach an knocking the wind out of him. As Naruto fell to his knees gasping for air, Haku turned to Sakura.

"It's a shame you know, I do hate killing." Haku walked to Sakura before picking her up by her throat. Sakura started to form tears in her eyes as she clawed at the boys arm. "Especially people so weak." Haku drew a senbon but was forced to release Sakura, narrowly avoiding a volley of shuriken.

"And it's a shame, you know." started Naruto as he rose to his feet, next to a red eyed Sasuke.

"That we have to beat you down." finished Sasuke as the two lunged at Haku, engaging him in a 3 on 1 battle. The three genin were taking turns attacking the mysterious boy, though nothing they did seemed to work.

Haku was panting, while on their own he was fairly sure he could defeat the easily, the combined forces of the genin was keeping him on his toes. "That's enough of this!" screamed Haku as he vanished, before multiple mirrors made of ice began to form, trapping the three genin.

Before the three could make heads or tails of what they were trapped in, hundreds of senbon filled the air.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

"AHHHHHH!"

'Shit, that must have been Sakura' thought Kakashi as he avoided another swipe from Zabuza's sword. The silver haired man launched a kunai at the Zabuza as he removed his Hitai-ate showing his Sharingan. "As much as I would love this to last Zabuza," started Kakashi. Electricity formed around his hand as he formed his most powerful jutsu, "The time for you to die is at hand."

Kakashi disappeared in a silver flash, leaving a stunned Zabuza to look for his opponent, though he didn't have to look for long. Kakashi's hand was pushed through Zabuza's chest, effectively destroying his heart and lungs. "H-how…"

"Hirashin, now rest." said Kakashi as he panted, dropping to his knees over the corpse of the Demon of the Mist. "Damn that still takes a lot out of me…" mumbled Kakashi as he ran back to the clearing, only to see Sakura covered in blood, hovering over an barely conscious Naruto. Sasuke looked the worst of the three, having hundreds of senbon protruding from his skin, panting hard and barely holding off the black haired boy.

Kakashi broke threw the mirrors, being able to pick out the small boy with his advanced Sharingan. Kakashi grabbed the boy by his neck and forced him to the dirt. He pulled a senbon from the boys pouch and rammed it into his neck, putting him into the same near death state Zabuza was put into.

The mirrors fell and clapping was heard as the three looked towards the third member of the group, who until now had watched from the sidelines. "That was very impressive." chuckled the man as he walked to the group.

Kakashi rose to his feat and took out a kunai, "Not another step, who are you and why did you let your comrades be defeated." demanded Kakashi, only to be met with more laughter.

"Comrades… no, I was just using them to pass some time while my partner took care of a bit of business, I had no plans on fighting you." said the man as he removed his sword from his back, standing menacingly before the group of Konoha shinobi.

"Had?" asked Kakashi as he stood before his genin, getting a bad feeling from the tall cloaked man.

"Yes had, I was gonna let those two fools be defeated," said the man as he flicked a kunai, imbedding it into the neck of Haku, killing him instantaneously. "Too bad for you though, he's on the list." Said Kisame as he lowered his hood, grinning at Naruto specifically.

"Shit, NARUTO RUN!" screamed Kakashi as he lunged at the man, only to be swatted down by Samahade, 'Shit, I've lost too much chakra from the battle with Zabuza.' thought Kakashi as he saw Kisame approaching the boy.

Naruto backed up as Sasuke and Sakura attacked the man, only to be brought down as had their teacher. Naruto began to panic as the blue skinned man approached him. Just as he was about to yell. His eyes began to glow a brighter shade of blue, before he grinned, disappearing in a burst of speed surprising the nin around him. Naruto appeared behind Kisame and formed the rasengan, thrusting it into his back.

Just as the jutsu was about to connect, Kisame turned and kicked the boy to the dirt. Poof and smoke filled the air as the Naruto before them vanished, turning out to be a shadow clone. The real Naruto dropped from the trees above the blue man with a giant rasengan in his hand, "ODAMA RASENGAN!" screamed the youth as he brought the swirling mass of chakra down upon the man. Kisame grinned as he held up Samahade, letting the sword devour the chakra, before grabbing Naruto by the neck.

"That was pretty good brat, but not good enough." the blue skinned man said before kicking Naruto across the clearing. The blonde haired boy crashed through a tree and laid there unconscious as Kisame stalked closer to his prey.

Just before Kisame could reach the boy, Kakashi stood before him, raikiri in hand, as well as the Sharingan active. "You shall not pass." declared the man as he ran to Kisame.

Kisame brought up his sword to devour the chakra but Kakashi was too fast. With a burst of speed he evaded the swipe from Samahade, and rammed the raikiri at Kisame's chest. Kisame narrowly evaded the swipe and grinned at the man.

"Okay then Kakashi, Let's see what you can do."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sakura and Sasuke were leaning over a passed out Naruto, though there was something strange about him. All of his cuts were sizzling with a red fog like substance, and mysteriously closing.

"W-what do you think it is?" as Sakura with concern and fear in her voice.

"I don't know, but whatever it is it's healing the dobe." muttered the ebony eyed boy as Naruto began to stir awake.

"W-what the hell is going on?" asked Naruto as he sat up wearily.

"You went crazy! How the hell were you able to do those attacks, you actually almost had him!" shrieked the girl as Sasuke grinned.

"It was pretty cool."

"Yea well we have to go back there, Kakashi is all alone against that freak!" said Naruto as he got up before turning to his teammates. "I think we should try what we worked on in the forest."

Sasuke and Sakura both grinned and nodded as the ran back into the clearing, just in time to see a slightly wounded Kisame swat down another attack from Kakashi.

"Hey, FISHBREATH!" yelled Naruto gaining Kisame's attention. "EAT THIS!"

The next thing Kisame knew, the three genin were replaced by hundreds of clones, all of which rushed at the tall man. Kisame began to fight off clone upon clone, until he couldn't tell which way was up, there must have been a thousand of them.

When there were only a few clones left, they all turned and vanished, creating a cloud of smoke. The shark man tried to clear the smoke from his vision, but it was all for not as a volley of fireballs made there way to Kisame scorching him.

The pink haired member of team seven then ran to the smoldering wreckage and launched multiple kunai. She then jumped back to her teammates and grinned as the kunai then exploded, making a huge crater where Kisame once stood.

The genin ran to their teacher and tried to check on him, only to freeze when they heard Kisame emerge from the pit, "That was decent…" said the man, whose shirt and cloak had been blown off of him.

The three genin were stunned, nothing could bring this man down. Kisame slowly closed in on his prey before cursing and jumping back just in time to avoid a huge fireball.

"Well, well Hoshigaki Kisame, it's an honor."

Kisame groaned as he stood upright, "Fosintao Jiraiya, the pleasure is all mine."

Jiraiya smirked as he looked at the beaten ninja, "Good call on contacting Mina-kun, I was in your location so he sent me as back up, just in case." said the toad sage as he crossed his arms before his chest and looked down upon the blue man. "Itachi, I suggest you make yourself known as well."

Kisame grinned as a shorter man appeared besides him, not seeming worried in the least bit, "It seems we are at a bit of a stalemate here." said the elder Uchiha.

"It would appear so, I would say you two leave, and live to fight another day." Jiraiya said as his eyes shifted between the two.

"Oh, and what's stopping us from tearing you all apart now, huh Itachi?" said Kisame as he got ready to fight, only to be held back by Itachi.

"Not now, while they are weakened, all of the Konoha nin can provide support, not even considering while old, the Sanin is a sage, it would be a pointless battle. We will retreat." declared Itachi as he began to leave only to be stopped by a smaller version of himself.

"I think not." said Sasuke as he ran at Itachi with a kunai in hand.

Itachi stood there patiently as his brother approached him. When Sasuke was in arms length, Itachi took the boy by his hands and spun him around so that the pair were back to chest. Itachi leaned in and smiled, patting his brothers hair before whispering in his ear. With that Itachi and Kisame disappeared, leaving the nin confused and stunned.

Finally Sasuke looked up at the other nin around him, "He said go back to the village, by the time the chunin exams are over… Konoha will be attacked."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

The pair of outlaws were miles away from the battlefield when they slowed down, Kisame turning to Itachi angrily, "What the hell was with that, you know we could have beaten them!"

Itachi sighed and looked up to the man, "We have bigger annoyances at hand then a group of Konoha nin, besides" Itachi started as he pulled a blue vile from his Akatsuki cloak, "This is what we were waiting for all along."

Kisame grinned as he looked at the vile, "Well then… it seems we do have better things to do after all."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Minato sat at his desk with worry on his face, he just got the message from Jiraiya informing him that his son and student were safe along with their team, but bad news was on the horizon, and he had no idea what it entailed.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

So how was it, tell me what you thought!, PM or R&R.

On a last note, I'm going to have two polls, you can cast your votes by sending me a message or in the reviews. I'm going to have it last till either the end of the Chunin Exams, or December 1st, whichever is second.

POLL 1!

Should the story have a pairing, and if so should it be….

Naruto and Sakura

Naruto and Hinata

Naruto and Fem Kyuubi Or

(This isn't very likely but maybe)

Naruto and Temari

POLL 2!

What should go on with the curse mark

Sasuke gets it

Sakura gets it

No one gets it

So tell me what you think, I look forward to hearing it.


	9. The Exams Begin

On with the story!

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Minato smiled as he was reading over the mission report, the whole team handled themselves well. He flipped through pages proclaiming the teams trails that they passed but he focused most upon his son's role in the mission. His son was becoming a ninja, and a man he was very proud of.

'Kushina, if only you were here to see our boy grow…'

The Hokage's musings were cut short by a loud knock on the door, after a short 'enter', the younger blonde Namikaze strolled in whistling to himself as he sat on the couch next to the large wooden desk.

"So dad," the Naruto started casually, "I think you should treat me to a mission well done dinner at Ichiraku's."

Minato tried his hardest not to laugh at his son's statement, as a father he would love nothing more then to share a few more precious moments with his son. Though as the Yondaime Hokage, well other things were in store.

"Naruto, I want to go over your mission report first, then we can get ramen." stated Minato, catching Naruto's attention. "I am very impressed with your performance on your teams first mission outside of Konoha. I think you handled yourself well, and being able to master rasengan in a time of need shows your growth as a ninja."

Naruto grinned and put his hands behind his head, "Yea we were pretty amazing."

Minato sighed, he knew his son was going to protest but for his safety, and the safety of the village he had to do what he must, "In spite of that, until we can figure out what is wrong with Kyuubi, and what is going on, I am forbidding you from leaving the village."

Naruto felt as if the air inside him had turned to ice, "W-what do you mean…"

_FLASHBACK_

Kakashi stood before his mentor, long time friend, and leader with worry, "I don't know what's going on with Naruto, but it scares me sensei. We were working with him for months on the rasengan, and he just mastered it? And the way he just changed the jutsu around sensei, it was astounding. I'm not sure what's going on but I think it would be best if we as a team did not leave the village until this is taken care of."

Minato sat there for a moment in silence contemplating what Kakashi had just said, he agreed but it made the reality that his son was in danger all the more real, "Okay then Kakashi, after the chunin exams, Yourself, Jiraiya-sensei and I will exam his seal top to bottom, and fix whatever plagues Naruto.

_END FLASHBACK_

"I mean that until your seal is stable again, you will not be allowed out of the village, on missions assigned to your team were they are forced to leave the village walls, there will be a temporary replacement for you." Minato said with a heavy heart, it wasn't that he didn't trust his son, but with things as muddled as they were, the last thing he wanted was Naruto attacked and not being able defend himself.

Minutes passed until the eerie silence was broken, Naruto rose from his seat and stood before his father. "I see Hokage-sama," said Naruto through clenched teeth, he bowed and turned to leave only to find his father still in his way.

Before he could protest Naruto found himself in a warm embrace, "It's not that I don't trust you, I just couldn't let myself live if anything happened to you because of my negligence, I promise we will find a way to fix the seal."

Naruto just stood there for a moment before calming down and hugging his father back, "Okay dad… I don't like it but I understand…"

Minato smiled at his son and ruffled his hair affectionately, "Atta boy Naruto, Come now, lets get you some ramen."

The two took off happily side by side to their restaurant of choice.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sasuke sighed as he sat at his dinning table alone. He picked up his chopsticks and ate away at his small meal he made for himself. One glass of milk was poured adjacent to the one bowl of rice in front of him. He began to eat in silence as he thought about what life would have been like if his family was able to overcome his brother that fateful night.

After a few bites Sasuke decided he hadn't wanted to eat, so silently he took his food and mild and disposed of it before cleaning his mess. He looked around the enormous empty house and decided a walk around the village would be a good escape from the thoughts that plagued him.

Sasuke locked the door behind him and shuddered at the cold breeze that swept past him. He began to walk leisurely down the street watching all the families play and interact, it made him only long for his family more.

In his musings the brooding Uchiha hadn't noticed the blonde haired pair until he ended up walking straight into Naruto, knocking both boys on the floor.

"OW! Teme watch where your going!" said Naruto before looking at the other boy. Something was just off about the Uchiha, "H-hey Sasuke are you ok?"

"Hn, yea…" Sasuke said before he began to walk away from the pair only to be stopped by a large hand on his shoulder.

"What were you up to Sasuke?" asked Minato casually. Minato had always made it a point to be friendly and look out for the Uchiha, Kushina and Mikoto had been best of friends, as had he been with Fugaku. He felt sorry for the boy and only wanted to try and ease the pain of his godson.

"I was just taking a walk Hokage-sama, I needed to clear my head." Sasuke said as he looked at the ground nervous before his leader.

Minato laughed and winked at his son, "Sasuke call me Minato, this isn't a ninja matter, why don't you join us for dinner?"

Sasuke was about to decline when Naruto grabbed him, "Great idea dad! The more the merrier!"

Sasuke groaned as he ended up falling in step with the pair, though mentally he was happy to have some company after being alone for so long.

The walk to Ichiraku had been short and uneventful, Naruto would go on and on about pointless topics, losing Sasuke's interest while the Hokage mused to himself letting the boys interact. Sasuke seemed to relax after they sat at the bar and received their food.

"So Sasuke, what do you think of the upcoming chunin exams." said Kakashi from nowhere as he joined the trio eating there meal.

"Late as always Kakashi-kun." Minato greeted with a smile, gaining a sheepish look from his student.

Sasuke played with his food for a moment before shrugging, "Another obstacle to overcome, it will be a new challenge though, so I'm excited." said Sasuke before mentally adding, 'Another step to taking him down.'

"I think it's gonna be easy, no one there can hold a flame to team NARUTO!" spouted the blonde.

Minato laughed as Kakashi and Sasuke sighed together, "Well that's good at least, because I'm nominating your whole team to participate." Kakashi said as he received a bowl of ramen.

The two genin were shocked but looked towards each other and nodded. 'We got this,' they both thought as they bumped knuckles.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

As the group bid each other farewell, Naruto and Minato went towards their home, while Sasuke left for his own in another direction. Kakashi felt like being in his apartment would be suffocating so he decided for a stroll around the village.

As the hours passed he found himself entering the upper districts, where all of the noble clans would ration off the 'Best Land' and make estates and compounds out of it. The few exceptions to this were the Namikaze, Uchiha, and the Senju clans, who felt that they had no need to separate themselves from everyday citizens or ninja.

Kakashi snickered to himself as he thought of all the times he and Asuma had stumbled about these very streets heavy intoxicated. His musings were cut short by a familiar pink haired kunzite who was sitting on a nearby bench. Kakashi blinked and decided to have some fun with the girl.

He used the darkness to his advantage and crept silently behind her, he was about to jump out and scare her when he heard her crying softly. Deciding to be mature he slid besides her on the bench, before putting a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?"

Sakura was shocked, she spun while wiping her eyes trying not to let on she was crying, but soon gave up before turning to her sensei and crying into his chest.

Kakashi blinked and patted her back as he awkwardly played with his mask, "I'll take that as a no." he said before mentally slapping himself, he hated comforting women.

After a few minutes of crying, Sakura turned to her mentor and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, "Do you think I'm useless?" she said, in a hollow voice which sent chill down his spine.

"Of course not, why would you ask such a ridiculous question Sakura?" questioned Kakashi, though he hated comforting women, he hated seeing his loved ones hurt even more.

"My elders wished to see my mission report, since it was the first mission outside of the village, and then called me a useless liability." Sakura confessed while staring at the dirt. Kakashi sighed and held her close to his chest. "They said if I was to weak to participate on a simple C rank mission, then I was certainly too weak to be called a Haruno. They didn't care about what I did or who we faced, I wasn't able to do it all alone so it didn't matter to them!" the girl cried as she sniffled into the silver man's chest.

He had remembered a few rumors he heard of the Haruno clan, much like the Hyuga clan, which was ran by a figurehead, which had the support of a council of elders. The clan itself was fairly large, nothing to set them apart from other ninja clans besides their incredible chakra control. The only thing they held over the Hyuga besides chakra control was pride.

"Now, now Sakura, You are not weak, or a liability, and I certainly believe you could have done what Naruto or Sasuke had, sometimes being the support is more crucial then fighting on the front lines itself. Have you ever thought of being a medic like your mother?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura shook her head, "I just want to be a good ninja my clan can be proud of…"

Kakashi smiled and ruffled her hair, "Well then, you certainly have your chance to prove your clan wrong, I nominated your team to participate in this years chunin exam."

Sakura gasped and looked at her sensei, "Kakashi-sensei, do you really think we can handle that?"

Kakashi gave her his famous eye smile and nodded, "I know you can."

Sakura nodded before she hopped off the bench and bowed. She turned to leave but stopped to ask him another question, "How did you know my mother was a medic nin?"

Kakashi looked to the ground and sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, "Rin and I go way back, old friends."

Sakura nodded and took off without a second thought leaving Kakashi to sit there thinking about his life, 'Maybe if I hadn't been so naïve I wouldn't of given her that talk as a sensei but as… no… I can't think of that now…' thought the dejected Hatake as he decided maybe it would be nice to go home now.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

A few days had passed since the eventful night and all three members of team seven were making their way too the first examination room. All were silent, in a mix of fear and excitement, not knowing what to expect behind the closed door.

Naruto stopped and turned to the other two members of his squad, "I say that no matter what happens, chunin exams or not, we look out for one another, I heard stories of these exams, and people die."

Both of his teammates let that bit of knowledge sink in before they nodded and smiled to the blonde, who returned the gesture. With that the three walked into the room, astounded at what they saw. There must have been at least three hundred genin in the room, all from different nations and homes, but all in Konoha to compete. Naruto felt excitement bubbling inside of him, but before he could do anything, he found Sasuke giving him a look. Naruto sighed and nodded, knowing the look meant 'Say a word, and I will kill you.' Before anything could be done Shikimaru and Chouji, accompanied by Kiba walked to the team and greeted them.

"Hey Naruto, long time no see," said Kiba as he pounded fists with his blonde friend. Naruto smirked back to Kiba along with Shikimaru and Chouji. These were the three people he befriended in the academy, the ones who never looked down on him, the ones who had known he would be here.

"Hey guys, I see you made it too, what do you think of the crowd?" questioned Naruto, though before he could get an answer, a silver haired boy wearing glasses butted in on their conversation.

"Oh no one here looks too tough, name's Kabuto, if there's anything you guys need just ask me I have information on all the candidates." The man named Kabuto said.

"What do you mean information?" Sasuke asked as Ino and the rest of Kiba's team joined the conversation.

"Well my team works for central intelligence and information gathering, I figured I might as well help Konoha in anyway possible." Kabuto stated seeming friendly.

The genin looked amongst each other before nodding, "What do you have on Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Namikaze, and Neji Hyuga," asked Kiba while grinning at Naruto and Sasuke.

Kabuto nodded and pulled out a deck of cards from which he drew three from the center. After adding some chakra he turned the three over to reveal the pictures of the three ninja Kiba asked for. "Well it seems that Uchiha Sasuke, member of team 7, genin of the year, excel's in taijutsu and ninjutsu, average in genjutsu, special traits being the Sharingan. Hyuga Neji, member of team gai, genin of the year, excel's in taijutsu, is average in ninjutsu and is average in genjutsu, special traits being the Byakugan. Lastly is Namikaze Naruto, member of team 7, son of Yondaime Hokage-sama," gasps were heard from all around the room at that point making Naruto uncomfortable, "Hm, it seems he is average at ninjutsu and poor at taijutsu and genjutsu."

Naruto sighed happily, glad that knowing the whole room would now think he was weak and underestimate him. All the times playing stupid at the academy paid off.

"Oh those are so not accurate!" Kiba shouted, "Naruto is amazing in ninjutsu and his taijutsu isn't half bad either, also~~" Kiba blurted out before he was silenced by Naruto and Shikimaru.

"Nice going loud mouth there goes the element of surprise." whispered Shikimaru, as the brunette boy rubbed his head sheepishly.

As the group was interacting three people slowly made their way behind them. A red haired boy left his two companions and quietly made his was behind Naruto behind reaching out and grabbing his shoulder.

"AHHH!" yelled the startled boy to turn around and see the cold green eyes of Gaara Sabaku. "GAARA!" the blonde then shouted happily as he hugged his long time friend, who returned the embrace with a slight smile on his face.

"It is good to see you to friend." the red haired boy said, his voice soft yet hard at the same time.

Sakura blinked and approached the pair, "Naruto who's your friend?" Sakura asked shyly.

"Oh, guys, this is Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari, otherwise known as the sand siblings! They are the Kazekage's kids!" chirped the blonde.

Gaara nodded, "Naruto was my first friend, you could say he saved me from myself." the redhead said as he turned to greet the rest of the rookie nine.

Before anything else could be said the set of doors inside the room busted open, revealing a man in a black cap with scars across his face, "Alright then, I am Morino Ibiki, proctor of the first exam, sit down and shut up."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

So as I write this the polls stands at…

(The bolder entries are what are still in the polls, the normal ones are eliminated due to reviews and what I thought after)

Poll 1

**Naruto-Temari 3**

**Naruto-Hinata 8**

**Naruto-Sakura 5**

Naruto-FemKyuu 3

Other 1

None 4

Poll 2

Nobody Gets CM 7

**Sasuke Gets CM 6**

Naruto Gets CM 3

**Sakura Gets CM 5**

Unstoppable Log xD 1

From the way the polls went I think I know what I'm going to do, I already was going to go around this general direction but something was asked for that I hadn't thought of before. So anyways continue to read and review, I hope you all enjoyed as always,

Also I need someone to bounce ideas off of, what I think may be horrible in hindsight, so if anyone wants to hear what I'm planning and help me with a few ideas, pm me, my only request is that you respond in a reasonable amount of time.


	10. It Was Then At That Very Moment

The polls are closed, I took what people were saying into consideration and I think the way it is going to go will work well, something I can be confident in and have fun writing. I am not going to announce the pairing but in the next chapter you will see who has the curse mark.

Also I am sorry for the time between updates I have been sick on and off for a few weeks so it kinda messed me up…

As a last note, note only those of you who review, but everyone who reads…

THANK YOU! I like knowing people are reading, I'm glad you all enjoyed it so far and I hope you enjoy what is to come…

And with that said…

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

The genin were given numbers upon entering the room, after finding their seats Ibiki began.

"The life of a ninja is hard, unforgiving, and unfair. Most of you will never become chunin." Ibiki said

"That's a load of bullshit." came a voice from the back.

Ibiki looked up towards the voice before smiling softly, "This is the first exam to earn your right to become chunin." Ibiki said as he paced before the genin. "Out of all the genin in the hidden villages, sixty three percent either die, quit, or remain genin for the rest of their lives, the remaining thirty seven percent become chunin. Out of those chunin, only twenty seven percent ever live to see the age of thirty." Ibiki paused to look at the room of genin, now grinning maliciously. "That means out of one thousand genin, six hundred and thirty will die, quit, or never advance in rank. Three hundred and seventy will become chunin, and one hundred of those few will live to see their children become your age." multiple, audible gulps and gasps were heard throughout the room as Ibiki stood before the genin once more. "With that said, here are the rules for the exam."

Ibiki pulled down a chart from the black board behind him, before turning and slamming his fist to the chart. "Each genin starts with ten points. If a genin is caught cheating, three points will be deducted. For every question left unanswered, one point will be deducted. Once a genin is drained of their points, the genin and their team will be removed from the exam, failing instantly."

Ibiki looked around the room and noticed a few genin shaking, some others were sweating. 'Heh, I still got it.' Ibiki gave a signal to the proctors, and almost robotically several chunin took seats around the genin. "When I say begin, you will flip your tests and start the exam, there are nine questions on the exam, the tenth will be given after the duration of forty five minutes. BEGIN!"

The genin flipped their tests and began, many frantically scratching their pencils on the paper before them. Naruto grinned as he flipped his test over, and calmly picked up his pencil. As he glanced over the questions he dropped his pencil, and slammed his head to the desk, 'Shit…' He slowly picked his head back up and began to go over the questions again. 'These questions are insane, how the hell could anyone answer these!' the blonde thought. 'I wonder how Sasuke and Sakura are doing…'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sakura was humming happily as she filled out the answers to the questions, it had been about ten minutes into the test and she was on the seventh question. Her smile began to falter as she thought to herself, 'These questions are not genin level, I am alright, but I can't imagine Naruto answering these… Naruto is so screwed, Sasuke can use his Sharingan to cheat under the radar, but Naruto doesn't have a chance…'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto pulled at his collar, feeling unusually hot. He tapped his pencil at the paper as he ran his fingers through his hair, 'Damn…'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sasuke had a small grin on his face, he was done with the test. He had figured out the point of the test was to cheat early on, and focused his Sharingan on someone who he guessed was a chunin positioned to be cheated off of. Once he could read and copy the movements of the pencil with his own, it was smooth sailing. He glanced at the clock as he leaned back in his chair, only twenty five minutes left. 'I wonder how the others are doing.'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto was panicking, he had no idea what to do. He sighed and looked up, it was against his ninja way, but he decided he had to cheat to pass. 'It's ok, it isn't like I'm going to get caught.' thought Naruto as he glanced to the paper next to him. Before he could get any answers he started to hear the tapping sounds of a proctor near him.

'Fuck…'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Gaara was bored, he too had figured out that the point of the test was to cheat and used his third eye to find the answers from the safety of the ceiling. Now he was just looking on his teammates, Kankuro was fine, and Temari was smart enough to know the questions without cheating. Gaara let out a bored sigh before spotting a specific paper…

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto was freaking out by now, he knew he was caught once, and hearing teams being thrown out left and right started to rattle his nerves. Just as he was about to lose all hope, his pencil began to move by itself, scribbling down answers at an amazing pace. Naruto inspected the pencil in his hand, only to find it covered in a thin layer of sand, 'Oh I am so taking Gaara to get ramen by the time these exams are over!' thought the blonde as a small grin plastered itself to his face.

Just as Gaara gave him the answer to the ninth question, Ibiki rose from his seat, and cleared his throat, "Ok pencils down, time for the last question." Ibiki once more stood before the genin, "But before I give you all the question… there's something you should know. If you fail the tenth question, your team in its entirety will be disqualified, and never allowed to enter these exams again."

Kiba rose from his seat as he growled at Ibiki, "THAT'S SO NOT FAIR, THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAILED AND TRIED AGAIN BEFORE!" the brunette yelled.

Ibiki smiled to the Inuzuka, "Yes but I was not the proctor for those exams, this is my house, and these are my rules, feel free to walk out now and try again next year if you are unsure. That goes for all of you."

Upon hearing this multiple genin rose from their seats and walked out with their team in tow. After a few minutes Ibiki counted the remaining teams, 'only thirty teams left, not too bad Ibiki, not too bad.' "So all of you wish to take the final question?" nothing was said as the remaining genin stood their ground against the proctor. "Good, you all pass."

There was silence for a few minutes before Naruto rose from his seat, "Wait, what the hell was that? We pass?" the blonde screamed, confused.

"As a chunin, you need to know when to back down, and when to take chances, if you are unsure you will lead your comrades to death. With that said, sometimes backing down from a mission is not an option, if you can't trust yourself to take a test, who could you trust yourself with other people's lives. Along with that, you need to know how to gather information and operate undetected. The exam was designed to test your decision making skill, as well as your information gathering skills. Congratulations, the remaining genin pass."

As Ibiki finished his speech, a purple haired woman burst through the window, before grinning at the students, "Nice work Ibiki, you got a good portion of the teams." The woman walked next to Ibiki and leered at the group before her, "Ok maggots, I'm Anko, proctor of the second exam, we will be meeting at the forest of death, training grounds 44. Be there in one hour, or don't show at all." said the woman before Ibiki and herself disappeared in a plume of smoke.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Team seven was showing the sand siblings to the training grounds, well most of team seven that is.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" yelled the blonde as he threw his arms around his shy friend, "Without you I don't know if I would have stayed in!"

Gaara laughed softly before patting his hyper friend's shoulder, "Do not worry about it Naruto, what are friends for."

"NO! Gaara, I'm so taking you out for cinnamon dango after this!" the blonde boy declared while wiping tears from his eyes dramatically.

"That's so cool that you can manipulate sand like that, it must come in handy." stated Sakura, only to receive a nod from the older kunoichi.

"It does, I can't remember Gaara every being scratched, he sand is truly amazing." Temari said as the genin advanced upon the training grounds.

"How can you control it anyways, from what I can tell, you're the only one who uses it. The chances of it being a bloodline is slim since your siblings cannot control the sand." questioned Sasuke as Gaara nodded.

"I am the jinchuuriki of the one tailed Shukaku, the sand spirit of the desert. We can only guess that it's the influence of the Shukaku even though no other holders have ever had control over sand." Gaara stated as Sakura and Sasuke shared a look between each other.

"You mean… you're a demon?" Sakura asked timidly.

"NO!" said Naruto, shocking his teammates, "Just because he holds the Shukaku doesn't mean he is the beast, Gaara has had a hard life in his village because most people can't get past that!"

Sakura and Sasuke were shocked at the outburst but shrugged it off as being a protective friend. Neither seeing Naruto reaching towards his own stomach.

As the group made it to the training grounds, Anko cleared her throat announcing for all the genin to quiet down.

"Ok worms, listen good cause I aint repeating shit. There are two scrolls, heaven and earth, each team receives one." said the woman as she pulled two scrolls from her sleeves. "To pass the second exam, you must obtain the second scroll and make your way to the tower at the middle of the forest. There are no rules besides this, do not open your scroll. If you die, you die." Anko snapped her fingers and a chunin began passing waivers around. "You have exactly five days to complete the exams, not to hard eh?"

Anko sighed and waited as the genin signed the forms, "Once your forms are signed, go into the tent and grab your scroll, I would conceal it if I were you."

The teams scurried to the tents, receiving their scrolls and their starting locations. Team seven made their way to their gate before Sasuke stopped them, "We need to be careful, no matter who we see, friend or foe, do not trust anyone." the rest of the team nodded and continued to the gate.

Once all the teams were ready, Anko grinned and held her hands in the tiger seal. "GO!" she yelled as paper bombs went off on all the gates, throwing them open.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Gaara was following his two siblings, glancing between the two quickly, something was wrong with them.

It had all started on their trip to Konoha, one night Baki had talked with them privately, and since then they had been on edge. Gaara's brow furrowed as he pondered more about it. Temari had not given Naruto the hug she usually greeted him with, and Kankuro had not made fun of his height, something was up.

He was able to look past the lack of greeting, or even acting on edge, but the last straw broke the figurative camel's back.

FLASHBACK

"NO! Gaara, I'm so taking you out for cinnamon dango after this!" the blonde boy declared while wiping tears from his eyes dramatically.

"That's so cool that you can manipulate sand like that, it must come in handy." stated Sakura, only to receive a nod from the older kunoichi.

"It does, I can't remember Gaara every being scratched, he sand is truly amazing." Temari said as the genin advanced upon the training grounds.

END FLASHBACK

'No… That is wrong somehow…' thought the red haired boy.

FLASHBACK

"NO! Gaara, I'm so taking you out for cinnamon dango after this!" the blonde boy declared while wiping tears from his eyes dramatically.

…

…..

END FLASHBACK

Gaara's eyes widened in realization, 'Temari never made a ramen crack!'

Gaara concentrated on his sister once more, every time the saw Naruto, Temari was sure to ridicule Naruto for his ramen.

It was as sure as the sun rising.

'I must keep an eye on you both…' Gaara thought to himself, 'I don't know what you two are planning, but you will do no harm.'

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all moving along at a fast pase, it had been four hours since the exams started and they were thick into the woods.

The trio had stopped and looked around as the decided to set up camp. Naruto waved to his teammates and went to go get wood, Sakura leaving to go hunt for fish, leaving Sasuke to set up the tents and begin a small fire.

It was then at that very moment, when hell broke loose upon team seven.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

So this is the last chapter before two very important things happen, the first being the curse mark since I plan on it being a major plot point, the second thing being Naruto's memories.

Can't tell you all what yet though, got to wait, so until then, R&R! ^_^


	11. The Snake Strikes

Well this is it, the chapter where someone gets the Curse Mark, (pause for dramatic effect), no pairings as of yet and not till after the "Time Skip", which will have a twist to it as well!

Anyways enjoy the chapter as always!

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

NARUTO

Naruto was picking up a log as he felt a large mass of chakra approaching him, and fast. Naruto dropped the wood and took out a kunai before setting himself in a defensive stance, he knew not who was approaching him, but he did know that whoever it was, well they were powerful.

Naruto did not have to wait long though, three figures in cloaks appeared before him. One walked towards him and the others left in another direction.

"Sakura and Sasuke!" growled Naruto as he began to run in after the other two, only to find the cloaked figure in his way. "Move now!" yelled Naruto as he threw his kunai.

A long, purple tongue snaked its way around the kunai before dropping it to the ground.

"Now now Naruto-kun, why so hostile." came an eerie voice, as the figure dropped his hood, revealing Orochimaru.

Naruto's eyes widened as he stepped back in fear, he was no fool.

Orochimaru grinned as his snakes deployed themselves from his sleeves, and finding their way around Naruto's legs.

Naruto made hand signs, and a shadow clone popped into existence, and sliced the snakes apart.

Naruto stood up only to see the larger man in front of his shadow clone, before swatting it away with ease.

Naruto stumbled back so his back was to a tree. He sighed and realized there was nothing he could do, so he decided to pull out his trump card. "Hey Orochimaru, you seem pretty big and bad you know, knocking around a genin." Naruto taunted.

"Big words from a dead little boy." Orochimaru shot back.

"Little, maybe. Dead? Far from it!" Naruto said as he pulled a peculiar three pronged kunai from his pouch.

He started to throw it towards the man, but found himself bound to the tree by a thin purple snake. "Now now Naruto-kun, no need to call daddy." Orochimaru said as he took the kunai from Naruto and hid it in his cloak.

Naruto cursed and used a substitution to escape the mans grasp. He began to run towards his teammates, only to be caught by Orochimaru.

Orochimaru grinned as he slammed Naruto into the dirt, only to pick him back up and slam him into a nearby rock, nearly cracking it in half.

"I think you will be useful in bringing down your father, so I will wait before I kill you." said Orochimaru before he knocked Naruto out, only to hoist him over his shoulder, before he casually followed after the other two figures.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Sakura was on her way to the campsite when two figures found her. She panicked and threw the fish at them, before running over them and to the camp. She felt the two chakra masses following her so she increased her pace, only to find Sasuke looking at her stunned.

"You were gone for twenty minutes and no fish?" said the annoyed black haired boy.

"There are two people-

Before she could finish her statement the two figures ran into the clearing, each running towards a genin

Sakura pulled out a shuriken, as Sasuke formed hand signs. As the figures approached them Sasuke unleashed his favorite jutsu, "Goukakyuu no Jutsu! (Fire Release, Grand Fireball Jutsu)" Massive flames scoured the area as Sasuke nodded to Sakura, both running off to the direction Naruto had went.

Before they left the clearing, a man with a cloak, and a pale white face stood before them, "Oh Sasuke-kun, how nice to see you, I see you disposed of those other two." Orochimaru said before being joined by the figures once more.

The other two cloaked men were engulfed in smoke, before turning into snakes and running up Orochimaru's cloak. Orochimaru dropped Naruto on the ground and laughed as he slithered towards Sakura, swatting her away from Sasuke, and slamming her onto a tree, promptly knocking her out.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled before the pale man was in front of him as well. Orochimaru went to grab Sasuke, but the Uchiha jumped over the man, and sent a volley of kunai in his direction.

Orochimaru dodged the kunai, but was caught up in the explosion that followed. Sasuke was staring towards the flames, only to groan as Orochimaru walked through the flames, discarding his burnt cloak.

"Very talented Sasuke, you shall make an excellent vessel." said the pale man as he started to make hand signs. Before he could finish, Naruto launched a handful of shuriken, forcing the man to dodge.

Naruto stood shakily next to Sasuke before he began to cough. Naruto's world started to spin as he grabbed his head in pain.

'His chakra is spiking… what the hell is going on.' thought Sasuke. Orochimaru must have thought the same, because he paused his movements to observe the child.

'How interesting.' thought the pale man, waiting to see what happened.

Naruto's eyes were glowing blue as he groaned and made a shadow clone. The shadow clone walked passed him, surprising the boy. Naruto looked up and saw what looked to be his father.

"You did great." said the older blonde as he scratched his cheeks.

"D-dad where did you get whiskers from?" asked the confused younger blonde.

The older Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "I'll explain later, but for now…" Naruto said before focusing his attention on Orochimaru.

The older man was snarling at the three males, 'Well this is going to be more difficult then I thought.' thought the man as he took out his sword, Kusanagi.

The blonde laughed as he took out a kunai before tossing it towards the pale man. Before the kunai reached him though, Naruto disappeared in a yellow flash and resurfaced in front of Orochimaru. Orochimaru cursed as Naruto plunged a rasengan into the older man's chest.

Orochimaru spit out a snake, which morphed into a new body, as the old one withered away like a snake's skin. Orochimaru moved his hand, calling his sword back to him as he spit an acidic slime towards the older blonde.

Naruto dodged the acid, only to panic as Orochimaru's neck started to race towards Sasuke.

Before Naruto could stop what was happening, Sakura jumped in the way, having Orochimaru plant the curse mark on her neck before his face contorted in rage.

Naruto was back in front of the genin before Orochimaru could attack Sasuke as well. He held out each hand, forming two separate rasengan. He plunged one into Orochimaru's left hip, making the man scream in agony. Orochimaru cursed before disappearing into the woods.

The older Naruto sighed as he let the remaining rasengan die down before heading towards Sakura. He began to put seals around her curse mark trying to suppress it as the other two boys began to crowd around him. "Will she be okay?" questioned the younger Naruto as he went over to pull on his 'father's' robes.

Once his fingers touched the fabric, the older Naruto was gone, leaving a seal on Sakura's neck, and a passed out Naruto.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

The sand siblings were on their way to the tower, not to far from the confrontation with Orochimaru, with both scrolls on hand. Gaara was following his siblings as they were interrupted by a pale man. The man was on edge and seemed to be favoring his right leg.

"Change of plans, you two come with me now." barked the man as Temari and Kankuro nodded. They started to leave before sand surrounded their legs.

"What is going on here." Gaara said, confusion evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry- started Kankuro before the cloaked figure grabbed Gaara by his throat, passing his sand defense. The very same sand slammed into the man and threw him towards a tree. Gaara thought he had the upper hand before the man vanished revealing it to be a clone. Before Gaara could say anything snakes were binding him to a tree.

"You little worm, you are a thorn that shall no longer prick me." stated the man as he made hand signs. "Gogyou Fuuin (Five Element Seal)." said the man as he slammed his burning fingers through Gaara's shirt.

The man dropped Gaara as he turned towards the other two, "Lets go."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Hours later Gaara woke up on the cold forest ground. He groaned as he realized he had slept for the first time in years. He quickly pulled up his shirt to see he had a weird seal on his stomach, and he couldn't hear the Shukaku.

He shook his head trying to clear the fog he saw but was unsuccessful. So the red haired boy paced his way through the forest, using his sand to guide him until his sight fully returned.

Gaara felt Naruto's chakra near him spiking and dying in a cycle. He made his way to a clearing, seeing the Uchiha guarding his two teammates.

"Gaara.." Sasuke said, "Where are Kankuro and Temari."

"I… don't know." said Gaara as he felt Sasuke's eyes staring at him. "We were confronted by a man in a robe, he was leaning on his right side. The man told my siblings to follow them, so they did. I tried to get information, but was knocked out." explained Gaara as Sasuke tensed up.

"Was it a pale man with a grey hood." asked Sasuke, only to see Gaara nod. "Thought so, his name is Orochimaru, he's the one who did this." said Sasuke as he pointed towards his two sleeping teammates.

Gaara studied the sleeping faces behind him and sighed, "It seems I should stay with you both, something bad is about to go on."

"I agree." said Naruto, surprising both of the genin. Naruto walked besides them and stood before the fire. There was something different about Naruto though, he seemed more confident, powerful even.

"Naruto are you ok, you touched your dad and then he vanished, and you passed out." said Sasuke.

Naruto grinned towards the two boys as he summoned a small frog, "Naruto-kun, what's up?" asked the small toad.

"Gamakichi, its good to see you, but you need to go get my father, and Pervy Sage, its important."

Gamakichi nodded before hopping off leaving the three boys alone once more.

"Naruto?" asked Gaara.

Naruto turned back towards Sasuke and smiled, "That wasn't my father, it was me."

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

Anko was groaning in agony as Minato tried to subdue the curse seal. "He must be around here for it to hurt this bad Hokage-sama." said Anko through clenched teeth.

Minato was worried, what could Orochimaru want with the genin, or was there something he was missing.

Minato's thoughts were cut short as a small toad hopped besides him.

"Hey Mina-kun, Naru-kun said he needs you in the woods, its important." said the toad before disappearing in a plume of smoke. Minato stood before apologizing to Anko.

"Go for it, the kid may need you more then me." said Anko, smiling towards the Hokage.

Minato returned the smile before disappearing in a yellow flash, heading towards his son.

:3 ^_^ ^~^ (^_^)

That's it for this chapter, shorter then what I had wanted but oh well. What did you all think of the chapter?

Sakura got the curse mark by accident, Gaara got the five pronged seal, and Naruto got his memories, who knows what havoc is gonna be unleashed in Konoha now!

Anyways R&R and as always, thank you for reading ^_^


End file.
